The Next Generation

"I have little sympathy when words like that come from you. Don't talk to me like you deserve better than this. Don't speak about how you've changed and how things are okay now. It takes so much work to get over what you've done. I nearly betrayed and killed people I love, and it took me years of capturing criminals to finally forgive myself," Neal said in a serious tone of voice. He was angry, his own past and his concern for catching Dick's killer were interfering with his thinking.

As Jade told him to go on ahead, Neal merely gave a nod. "As you insist," he said as his gaze just continued to stare at her. He concentrated his energy on her, making sure that she would feel this. Neal would start off small, like raising the temperature of her body to extremely high levels. After that he'd start to get more creative, cuts would begin to appear on her skin as if a knife was tracing over her entire body and making markings out of it. Neal would continue to advance and advance in the pain, waiting for anything to be said.

A part of him was still worried though. What if this woman had nothing to do with this?

It went on for what seemed like forever. Neal tortured, Rose asked questions, and each time, Jade claimed she knew nothing. At first, Rose thought that this woman was just highly trained in how to resist pain, but as Neal began to get more creative and... well, brutal, she was starting to become less and less certain that they had the right person. As the woman's screams became louder and more agonized, butterflies started floating around in Rose's stomach. No one they'd interrogated together before had ever lasted this long... not if they knew something.

Finally, after nearly an hour straight, Rose clenched her hand down on Neal's shoulder. "Neal, Neal stop!" she pleaded. She swallowed, hard. "I... I think we've made a mistake."

"Tried... to tell you..." Jade uttered, coughing and sobbing against the floor.

The interrogation continued, the torture continued, the pain continued, it all became magnified with each passing minute. It was what Neal was skilled at. It was his talent and his curse. Every single time that he did this he could see the faces of those that he had worked before. The alien, the men that he and Rose had interrogated in so many different countries. Each time they had succeeded, but Neal hated what he had to do in order to get the information. He was supposed to be a hero, and yet he openly made people believe that they lost blood and limbs. Out of all those moments though, this one was by far the worse.

The others had known or done something to deserve it. Jade didn't though.

As Rose gripped down on Neal's shoulder, she would feel how badly she was shaking. It was as if just hearing the idea that they had made a mistake scared him. Had he just tortured an innocent woman for an hour straight? Had he made her face pains that she would never have to truly endure except in her nightmares?

Neal felt sick.

Without saying anything the illusion broke and Neal stood up quickly, not bothering to look at Rose as he turned the other direction. "Let's go home," he said quietly. His right arm in particular was still shaking as the full weight of what he had done hit Neal.

"Do you... want to talk about it?" Rose asked, as the two sat silently on the large jet flying back to the states. It was a very late flight, and not a lot of passengers were aboard, plus the ones that were there were mostly asleep at this hour, allowing them to talk freely. "You know... we both made a mistake there. It wasn't just you. I was... I really was sure that we had the right person. Maybe we were just too eager to find the killer to think things through, though... Heck, I'm the one that attacked her first. I should have just tried talking... I was so quick to throw the first punch."

"Not really," Neal said as Rose asked the question. He had been quiet the entire way back to their plane, he even had Rose buy the tickets as he went to use the restroom. He threw up in their, disgusted at himself for what he had done. He cleaned his mouth and tried to act like everything was fine, but he had a feeling that she knew. She was the one that was bringing it up to talk about after all. "I'm sorry Rose but it's........I don't know," Neal said as he tried to figure out how to phrase his words. "You cut her stomach, I made her see her blood oozing out of her body. I made her imagine what it would be like to have your skin crumble like paper does when it's set on fire," Neal said in a very low whisper. They couldn't afford to have anyone hearing this after all, might raise some questions.

"You hurt people, but I destroy their will. I never told you this story, but once I had to work with Joker and Deathstroke. They tried interrogating a suspect and they couldn't make him talk. I volunteered to try, because I knew he had valuable information that would save millions," Neal said in a very low voice. "For the next hour I did to him what I did to Cheshire, maybe even worse. AT the end of it all, he gave me the information and died shortly after," Neal said as he just stared down at his own feet.

"I hate doing it Rose, and despite what everyone tells me about how it's not real or how it's for the better good.......I can't help but think that it's a justification to myself. I do things that are worse that Joker AND Deathstroke. What does that make me?"

Rose was silent during Neal's explanation of how what he'd done made him feel. She couldn't blame him for how it affected him, especially considering his latest victim had been completely innocent. Though they'd both made a mistake on it, his actions were far worse, at least in his mind. It killed her, too, to know that there wasn't a thing she could say to make him feel better about it. She was his wife, yet the best thing she could do to offer him comfort was give his hand a tight squeeze.

"I'm sorry, Neal..." Rose said with a long sigh. "Never should have asked you to do it... and I won't ever again, I promise." She was quiet for another moment, before suddenly glancing back up at him in confusion. "Wait... when did you ever work with the Joker and my father?"

Neal glanced down as he felt Rose giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He returned it, although she could feel that there just wasn't a lot of strength put in to it. He just felt down, and it affected everything that he did. As Rose spoke Neal shook his head. "It's not that Rose, I just don't know how to feel. I'm the only one that can do what I'm capable of, so I feel like I need to do it and yet at the same time it kills me every time that I do," Neal said as he glanced over at Rose. "I was given these powers and I need to use them...........but I'm starting to understand why Dick got out of this life. It takes a toll on all of us," Neal remarked before looking out the window.

"More than anything else I guess I feel ashamed. Just a month ago Superman personally told me that I had been a model hero and example for the Titans.............I wouldn't ever want any of the others to see this though"

As Rose asked about Joker and Deathstroke, Neal just scratched the back of his head. "Well, it's a long story but I suppose it's a long flight right?"

Rose let out a long breath and rest her head against Neal's shoulder, still holding his hand. "Yeah... plenty of time," she said, relaxing against him. Whatever story he had to tell, she was sure that it would at least be interesting. It would still be more than half a day until they landed in San Francisco. Besides, it wasn't like anything he told her could make her love him any less. They both had some skeletons tucked away in their pasts, and she was sure that hers were far darker.

Neal looked over as Rose leaned her head against Neal's shoulder, resting herself and still holding his hand. She wanted to hear the story, but there was something else that she needed to hear first. He lifted her hand up, giving it a gentle kiss before turning his lips to the crown of her head and placing another one. "I love you Rose, and thank you," he whispered as he squeezed her hand. It seemed to regain the old strength that it used to.

The rest of the flight would be spent explaining the craziness of Neal's vision and how it had helped him to save the world. Sure it technically didn't happen, but it was all real to Neal. He still made those decisions as if it was all real, after all at the time he thought he was in reality! That tended to really affect a guy after a while.

---

"And so that's what happened," Neal finally finished. "I came back to my time and used the information I gained in order to defeat Darkseid. We were able to stop him before he even launched on bomb on to Earth" Neal said as he concluded his story. There was a lot to tell after all, it had been one insane vision that he had experienced. "Seems like we're about to be home.......and Rose?" he asked as he looked her in the face. "Please don't tell anyone the specifics about what happened with Jade. I don't want the others to worry about me. Right now this is about Dick, not me"

Well, Rose had been expecting interesting, and she definitely got... interesting. An extreme psychic vision that played out like reality where the world had been taken over by Darkseid, causing heroes and villains to work together to take everything back? Yeah, it was too fantastical to not be true. But damn, where had she been for that? It sounded like one hell of a time, as far as temporary, unreal experiences went. But at least it really hadn't been real. She could only imagine how much more Neal's killing that alien guy would have affected him had it actually happened. It already ate at him plenty.

As the plane began its descent into San Francisco, Rose straightened up in her seat and let out a deep breath. "Don't worry, Neal... I won't be telling anyone what happened. I think it's something we'd both just like to forget." She really, really, didn't ever want to bring up that event again. They'd gone and tormented an innocent woman for nothing... you couldn't make much bigger mistakes than that.

"I guess we should head back to the tower, see if anyone else has found something," she said. "Or, if they're still in Gotham, we should grab another flight as soon as possible and continue helping out."

Neal listened as Rose explained that she wouldn't tell anyone, as it was an experience that she wanted to forget as well. Neal hoped that he'd be able to forget, sometimes he hated how his mind could seem to store everything in there in perfect detail. Hopefully whatever they were asked to do next would overshadow what had just taken place. Neal just hoped that no one asked any specific questions, he didn't want to have to lie to everyone's face.

As they got off the place, Neal glanced over at Rose. "I'll give Tim a call now that we're back Stateside. He'll tell us where we're needed," Neal said as they moved towards the baggage claim. He began to dial the phone, knowing that Rose would understand if he was unavailable for a little bit of time.

"Tim? It's Neal," he began. "We just landed in San Francisco. Jade didn't know anything, trust me on that one. She's not the one," Neal said as he glanced around the area. He figured referring to her as a killer in a public place might draw some attention, and Neal didn't want anyone listening in on this phone call. "We were just calling in for a heads up. Have you learned anything new? Do Rose and I need to grab a flight to Gotham or head back home?"

"We're still working on things here," Tim answered on the phone. "We have a couple more leads, but nothing concrete. Most of the Titans are still investigating their designated areas, but so far we're not much closer to finding out who the killer is. Everyone Raven has investigated ended mostly the same way; they were all shocked, horrified, and grieving. Either the person is a master of concealing their emotions, wasn't invited to the wedding, or didn't RSVP. We're still looking into it. You two can head back here if you like, though we don't have much more to go on quite yet."

"Roger that, we'll be there as soon as we can. We'll send you a call once we're in Gotham. Call us if you find anything though," Neal said before hanging up the phone and grabbing his bag. He glanced over to Rose who was probably curious to how the conversation went. "Hope you enjoyed our last plain ride, we're heading back to Gotham ASAP," Neal said as he picked up his own bag. "So far everyone they've looked into has been checked out and cleared by Raven," Neal began. "So either the person is a master of hiding their feelings, or we're dealing with someone that wasn't supposed to be there originally," Neal said softly.

"It feels like we're back to square one"

Rose let out a small sigh. "Well, I'm sure that we'll get a new lead soon," she said, trying to be optimistic. Though, with every passing day, the chances of catching the killer got smaller and smaller, she knew that much. Unless they found some big breakthrough soon, then they might end up failing Dick, and the killer might get away. That was something none of them wanted to live with.

When they finally returned to Gotham, the couple grabbed a cab and headed to Wayne Manor. Alfred let them in and escorted them down to the Batcave, where Batman and Robin and busy at work. Batman seemed to be going over security footage on the computer. Apparently, they church they'd been at had gone high tech and installed security cameras a while ago. Convenient.

"So what's the scoop?" Rose asked, now dressed in her Ravager uniform. "You two making any progress down here?"

"Little," was Batman's terse response. "But I'm not done here yet. There's hours of footage to observe from multiple cameras."

Robin looked over. "You've already been at that for hours, you should let me take a look for a while."

"Yeah, I'm sure that you're right," Neal said with a small smile. Like Rose he was trying to think positive about the situation, but that was hard to do given what happened in China. Along with that, what would happen if someone began to attack San Francisco again? The Titans couldn't afford to just ignore everything that was going on back home, it was still their city to protect after all. Neal tried to push those thoughts out of his mind, they would find the killer. He knew it.

As they arrived back in Gotham, they headed over to the Wayne Mansion before heading back downstairs in order to see what new was going on. Batman and Robin seemed like they were going over security footage from the wedding. Interesting, hopefully they would find someone in the footage that stuck out or didn't belong.

Neal walked forward as he was dressed up as Fade once again. "Would it be better to focus on the cameras where Jessie is? I mean maybe we can see how she was poisoned. Maybe it was a drink or something else, if we see what happened to her than maybe we can backtrack and see who was responsible"

"I've already gone over the more obvious angles," Batman explained. "Starting with her room and working out from there. So far, I haven't seen anything suspicious, but there are at least seven more cameras to observe, each one spanning approximately four hours of time. It's also possible she wasn't even poisoned at the wedding but instead before she arrived. Depending on the quantity of toxin given to her, it could have had a much slower effect than normal."

"Master Bruce, if I may," Alfred said, appearing and behind them setting down a tray of tea and biscuits. "You've been awake now for thirty-six hours straight. It might be best to take a break for now? I'm sure Master Timothy can take over."

Robing walked up in front of the computer and folded his arms. "It's fine, really. I have a sharp eye, you know that."

"If it's all the same to everyone," a new voice said. "I'd prefer to take a look myself."

Everyone turned behind them to see Dick standing there, no one having even heard him come in. But, he wasn't just Dick right now. He'd put on a costume that he hadn't worn in over two years now. Standing in front of them, ready to take action in the mystery involving his bride's murder, was Nightwing.

"Right, sorry. Should have known that you would have done that first," Neal admitted as Bruce basically said that he had already done what Neal had suggested. The killer had to be on this footage though right? If they weren't, what possible chance did they have of finding them? Neal wasn't certain, so he was going to just have to help with the search and pray that they find something.

Neal glanced over at Alfred, who suggested that Batman get some rest. Thirty six hours straight? The man must have really wanted to help Dick, just like they all did. Neal thought about stepping forward and offer his help as well, he had sharp eyes after all. However, they were interrupted by a voice that probably no one expected.

Neal turned around to see a figure that he hadn't gazed at in years. It was Dick, but he was taking on the identity of Nightwing once again. Apparently he wasn't going to just stand around while t hey all searched for the killer, he wanted in. "Looks like it still fits you perfectly," Neal said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll say it does," Rose commented, as Dick walked by them. Her eyes followed closely, aimed a little low. "You know, sometimes I feel like I got into this business just for the good looking men in tights." She held a half grin on her face until Dick finally sat down in front of the computer. And if Neal made a comment, she'd just kidney punch him. After all, they still fucked Power Girl every Saturday, she could at least have some eye candy for herself.

"Somehow, I knew I'd be wearing this suit again," Nightwing commented, folding his hands and lifting them up, raising his chin on them. "I just never imagined it would be under these circumstances."

Batman stood near the computer for a few moments before rubbing his eyes tiredly and turning from the group. He had already pulled his cowl down. "I'll leave you to it, then. Let me know what you find."

Robin merely gave a nod, then went back to his other work. A sudden, heavy silence dropped down on the cave after that, the only sounds being Nightwing's fingers typing at the computer keys every few moments.

"I'm going to take that one as a compliment," Neal said teasingly as he pushed on Rose's shoulder lightly. He was good spirited enough to let Rose joke, plus he had to admit that seeing girls in costumes like that did wonders for Neal as well. That first time he had met Power Girl had been plenty enough after all.

"Believe me Dick, we all wish that you didn't have to do this," Neal remarked as he walked over and stood at Nightwing's side. "I know that I was sad when you left, but I never wanted you to come back like this," he said seriously. He had missed Nightwing, but they moved on and continued to get stronger. Neal would have loved for him to be part of the team, but he had found a new life that made him happy.

A life that was now taken from him.

As Nightwing took over the computer, Neal wasn't quite sure what else to say. He scratched the back of his head for a moment. "So, is there anything that Rose and I can do for you? We're available for whatever it is that you need"

"Well, nothing at the moment," Robin replied, glancing back at the computer. "He's pretty much got the bulk of our current work covered. I'm just handling what little is left, while the others are still out interviewing the wedding guests."

Rose let out a small yawn and sat in a nearby arm chair, placing her feet up on the table in front of her. Closing her eyes, she said, "In that case, I'm going to catch a bit of a nap. We've been on a plane for like, the past day, and crossed I don't know how many time zones. So, I could use a recharge. Wake me if we find anything."

"Will do," Robin said, writing down notes on his paper pad.

Neal gave a nod as Robin explained that there wasn't really anything that they could do right now. At Rose's suggestion, Neal let out a yawn of his own. "Now that you mention it, a nap might not be such a bad idea," Neal said as he took the chair that was next to Rose's and slowly closed his eyes. "We're here if you guys need anything. Just let us know," Neal repeated before closing his own eyes as Rose had done.

Nightwing spent the better part of the next eight hours in front of the computer. Robin finished his work long before then, while Rose and Neal were out for that entire duration. It didn't matter how long it took, though, he'd sit there in front of that computer until the world came to an end if it meant finding Jessie's killer. He wasn't just going to stand around and watch from the sidelines, not this time. No, this time it was far too personal. This killer had taken everything from him, and he would not get away with it.

After so long with no results, however, Nightwing was beginning to doubt that there was anything of value on these security tapes. Still, he'd go through them all a second time just to be sure. Even the best could miss something, so it was better to double check and be safe. What he eventually found led him to a great bit of confusion. He couldn't be sure from the grainy image quality on the footage, but the person he saw on the edge of the parking lot of the church seemed very... familiar.

He started enhancing the image, wanting to be absolutely certain. He wasn't going to start jumping to conclusions, though if he was correct, it would raise more questions than answers. Once the image was clear enough for him to fully recognize the face, Nightwing stood up from his seat and stared at it closely. But that didn't make any sense... what was he doing there? He couldn't be the killer, no way... but then what was he doing there? No one had heard from him in ages, nor had he responded to the wedding invite, yet there he was.

Nightwing quickly started looking through all the rest of the footage, following the suspect across the parking lot and using the time frames to piece together where he would end up. He managed to track the suspect all the way through the church, past the rear hallways where the preparation rooms had been, but when he tried to follow further, he found that there was a blind spot in the footage, a place where the cameras didn't cover. When Nightwing went to the next camera, the suspect was gone, and Jessie was already walking out in her gown to walk down the aisle.

"That doesn't.... make any sense," he muttered, turning from the computer. He quickly went over to wake up both Neal and Rose. "Get up, both of you. We're going to Star City."

Neal didn't have a very restful sleep. The entire time that his eyes were shut, his mind kept showing him images of exactly what he was trying to avoid. He saw the pained and tearful expression of Cheshire, the face of the alien that died, and even all the man that Neal had interrogated when he was with Rose. He remembered exactly what he had done to every single one of them, down to the very last detail. They all kept staring at him, digging their eyes into his very soul. Neal felt like he could just-

But Neal didn't have time to think this over as his eyes suddenly shot open at the voice of Nightwing. It took Neal a minute to register what was going on before pushing himself out of his chair and stretching. He closed his eyes and rubbed the eyelids, as if it would make the images trapped in his mind go away. Neal only fully came to it when he heard what Nightwing had to say.

"Star City.......Star City.......isn't that Green Arrow's territory?" Neal asked in confusion. However, it was only a second later that Neal put something together. "Wait, if you have a destination in mind.......does that mean you found something?" he asked as he glanced over at the computer screen that Nightwing had been at.

"What did you find?" Rose asked, yawning as she stretched out her tired arms. Unlike Neal, she'd had a very peaceful, refreshing nap.

Nightwing was already on his way to the rear of the Batcave, however, where the Batwing was parked. Rose hurried after him, and it wasn't until they were in the aircraft that he started to explain. Pressing a few buttons, the hangar doors opened up and allowed a clear exit. Once the Batwing was out of the cave and flying through the skies, he finally settled back in his seat and let out a sigh.

"I found someone on the footage," he explained, rubbing his eyes. "An old friend that I invited to the wedding, but didn't respond. No one's heard from him for years; he kind of went off the radar for a while after his daughter died. I don't know what happened to him after that, but I know that he quit the hero business."

"And yet he was at the wedding..." Rose muttered. "That is a bit suspicious. So who is this guy?"

"His name's Roy Harper," Nightwing continued. "He started out as Speedy, Green Arrow's sidekick, and member of the Teen Titans. Then joined the plain Titans when the older members split off, going by Red Arrow. He was a good friend... a really good friend. I just... I need to find out what he was doing at the wedding."

Neal glanced over at Rose as she woke up, asking her question about what Nightwing had found. Dick didn't choose to answer though, instead he just began to walk off and not even say a word to the two of them. Neal shot a concerned look over to Rose before giving the smallest of shrugs. Dick must have found something, he wouldn't go off on just a hunch. He was too personally attached to chase after something unless he had a good reason.

As they took off in the Batwing, Neal listened to what was said next. So Dick had found someone on the footage that stuck out huh? Well that was an interesting development, one that only increased when it was revealed that it was Red Arrow, a fellow hero of all things.

Neal was silent for some time before looking over at Dick. "I hate to be the asshole asking this question, but was there any bad blood between the two of you?"